Cleaner for textile machines



Aug. 20, 1935. c. L: LYTTON El AL CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Original Filed March 12 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 c. 1.. LYTTON Er 51. 2,011,770

CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Original Fil ed March 12, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 20, 1935.

c. L. LYTTON 151 AL CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Original Filed March 12, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 20,1935

, PATENT Mme Minor R; Adams, Gastonia, N. assignors; by directand mesne assignmenta to Parks ilramer Company,'Fitchburg, Mass, a corporatibnof Massachusetts Application March 12, 1929; Serial No. 346,371 I jBenewed August 11, 1932 n 15 Claims.

I The object of' this invention isto provide a simple pneumaticcleaning apparatus adapted to be suspended or supported above a textile machine, such, for instance, as a spinning frame,

any suitable construction isafiixed tdthe'afore- (Gl.-15--20) 1 a said sleeve-shaft 21'." With this construction, it

will be obvious that rotation of the upright shaft 29 will cause a rapid rotation of the fan 28 to thus cause a downward draft within the fan-casand to travel back, and' forth over the top of the ing; At the bottom, the fan casing is shown 5 same while delive'ringa blast or blasts. of air divided into two spouts 29'which depend from V downwardly upon the machine to blow away the thefan-casing andv are curved around to bring accumulations oflint and dust while the textile their exit-ends to a point below the trough H3, so machine is in operation, as more fullyhereinafter that said blast will be delivered directly against Set forth I the parts of the textile machine to be kept. clean. In the drawings 1 A suitable air-inletis provided at the upperend Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our apparatus; of the fan-casing; r i Fig. 2 is an end elevationthereof; f Means are providedfor moving the aforesaid 1 Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on the line 3-3 blast-producing apparatus back and forth on the v of Fig.4; 1 f track it while the textile'machine is inbpera- 15 V Fig 4 is a verticalcross-section on th'e'line ll tion, this reciprocatory motion of the carriage of Fig.2; r g being derived from the continuous operation of Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken the aforesaid chain. To accomplish this movethrou h th trackway trough; v ment' of the carri'age w e swivelly mount on the Fig. 6' is a sideelevation'of one end of the lower end'of the shaft 20 aframeco'nsisting of an 20 trough; and Fig. 7' is a 'bottomfperspective view upper b 39' a d a lower j b tw en, w ich of thereversing bar. r V is arranged a pair'of meshing gears 32,one of Referring to the drawings annexed by referwhich is afiixed to the shaft 23 and the other of 'ence-charact'ers, l0 designates a trough-like which is afiixed to a short shaft 33 whose deframe adapted'to be suspended or supported in pending end arr s a pr k -wh l 3 po i- 25 any'suitablemanner (by means not shown) above tioned to mesh with one or the other of the legs the machine to be kept clean. Within the trough of thechain. The end of the bar 3 pposite 'is mounted an endless chain H. which runs on the sprocket-wheel 34 furnishes a support for a sprocket-wheels l2,'the shaft i3jof oneof which Wheel 35 which is adapted to roll against the adextends downwardly and is adapted to be conjacent side of the trough. Telescoping into the tinuously driven bymeans not shown, preferably same'end of the bar 3| is a rod 36 whose outer, by a suitable gear connection witha part of the end is pivotally connected to the chain. In each machine to which the cleaner is attached, altho S Wall Of the trough, in the P Of the W e it iswithin our'invention to drive this shaft. by 35, is prov a $1015 t $101? being arranged r. an independent motor. V I i at a point adjacent one of the sprocket-wheels 'Adaptedto travel back and forth on the trough l2. It will be observed t t r v linsof is acarriage which carries four wheels l lmountthe chain H will rotate the sprocket-wheel 34 ed on transverse shafts t5, the wheels running and thus communicate a rotary motion to the fan- Y on tracks 16 mounted on the inside of the side driving shaft 28, and that at the same time the walls of the trough. The body or the carriage connection of the mass with thechain will cause 40' consists of a bar I! in which the shafts l5 are the carriageto travel the length of the trough;

supported or journalled, and to the top face of Ateach end of the travel, a reversal takes place this bar ll is'rigidly -b'blted a verticalsleeveja andthe carriage is caused to move to the other which extends upinto af fan-casing l9 of suitable end of the trough, while at the sametime the-fan W shape. A'fanshaft'fzfl extends up through the shaft continues to receive-a driving action in the 45 I carriage-frame" and the'sleeve J8 and is prfosame direction as before thereversal. This revided at its upper end witha large gear 21 which versal'takes place as follows: The position of the mesheswithja pinionjlzlaljixed to acountei -shaft parts when the carriage is travelling toward'the I. 23 journalled in the fan-casingand carrying a left is shown in dotted lines at the left-hand sprocket-wheel 24. This ;sprocket wh eel 24 is end of"Fig.'5, the bar 31 standing at'an oblique 50 connected by asprocket-chain 25 with 'a' sprocket an le o t eeh s d t w 35 s wheel 26' aifixed' to a short sljeeve shaft Z1 suping againtfthe side wall 01 the trough. The ported on top. of the stationary sleeve [8 andsiir-v parts travel in t s p o nt t W 135 rounding the fan drivingshaft"Zil. A fah28. of, r'eaches the slot, 31, whereupon the wheel 35is t proje'ctedthrough the slot, to thus cause the" bar 55 13! to iswing over center and thus take an inclination in the opposite direction. "At the time.

, of thus reversing the bar 3|, the carriage stops,

will thus be seen that at each f'ndofthe travel ofthe carriage, the carriagewill first cometoa.

but the bar 3| continues its pivotal movement (on the shaft illas a pivot) until the sprocketwheel 3;} is "swung, over to the other side of the trough and put-into engagement .with the'other leg of "the chain, this being brought about by reason of thefact thatvth e pivotal end of the .rod' 36. is carried around the adjacent sprocket-1 wheel by the chaim This aetioniis snewn'm-idotted lines at the right-hand end-of Fig; 5.. It

dwell and then thesprocket-wheel t will be shiited o-ver from'one leg of the chain to the other, and then, after the.piv.0tal end of. thev rod 36 passes around the center of'the'sprocket 1 wheel, the reverse travel of the carriage-will take place, by which time the sprocket-wheel 34-.ihas been engaged withthe opposite leg of the chain and is; causing the fandriving shaft 2 8 to con; tinue the rotation which might have been momentarily stopped' during theshifting action of the sprocket wheel 34.1 If the speed of thef'appa:

ratus is sufficiently great; itwillbe observ'edltha't,

' there willcbepractically no stoppage of'the'fan during the reversal of the carriage travel, as this reversal" takes place veryjquickly' and it'i's probe able th'atthe-momentum of the driving-wheels will be "sufficient. toj'rcontinuethe action of] the fan during the shifting of the sprocket-wheel 354.

In thus swinging the sprocket-wheel Skfrom one i i sidezof the shaftj2l to"the jother, which 'as de passes outj'through thje slot 31,; the leg of the scribed takes place fwhen th'e "guide-'vv'heel' 35 chain with' which the sprocket happens to be en'- gaged'at thattime willflex outwardly sufiiciently 1 far to enable this actionfto take place; a sufiicient 0 1 trough being provided for this purpose. It will be observedthat' the fan we use is, of the disk type and that it is so arranged that it drives theair clearance between thec'hain and the sideof the directly downwardly toward the bottom 'of the casing. f'This, enables us to place the inlets of thetwo outlets 29 at the "bottom of the casing,

- so that .theair is delivered, at the machine below with; the least possiblenfriction.T-"Ifhis arrange- I -What we 'c laim as new isf v 1 I 1 '1. 'In a machine of the class set forth, a track- 7 that"fthisf driving mechanism withthe air blast.

ment' makes it advantageous tohave the driving echanism of thefanlocated above thef an so i In. accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes; we have herein described the principle of operation of our invention, together with the apparatus which wellnow consider to represent the best embodiments thereof,v but we desireto have it understood that the apparatus disclosed isfo'nly illustrative and thattheinvention can be" carried out by other means. Also, while itis designed to use, thelvarious vfeatures andelements' in the combinations-and relations described, some of these j may be altered and others omitted and a f some ofthe featuresiofeach modification may be embodied;inthe otherswithout interfering with the more general results outlined; and the inven-' tion extends to such use;

way-structure, a carriagefadaptdto run back .andforth on said traclr wayv-structure, a fan-, casing mounted onsaid carriage, a fan in said.

casing; mechanism for driving the fang'anendless chain having two parallel legs supported on said ving "said "fan-driving.

fi earm-s ru tu e e 2. In a machineof the class set will not interfere nection with said bar. p v

, 5. Apparatus, forfclearnng 'machine's compris mechanism' and for running said carriage back and forth on trackway-structure, devices for I drivingsaid chain, and means engaging the chain foractuating the fan-driving mechanism, said i means" embodying .devices whereby "the chainengaging means is shiftedfrom; one leg of the chain tojthe other @leg of "the. chain at the 'end of each travel ofthecarriage. T l V forth, a trackway-structure, acarriage adapted to run back and forth on saidtraCkway-structure, a fancasing mounted 'on said carriage, afan insaid [casingmechanism for driving the fan, an endless 7 chain havingtwo parallel legs supported on said tr ackway-wstructuresfor driving said fan-driving mechanismpandrfor -running said carriage back and. forth on trackway-structure, devices for drivingsaidichain, and means engaging the chain-for actuating the fan-driving mechanism, said means embodying a sprocket-Wheel adapted to engage the inside of either leg of the chain andiievices for'shifting said sprocket-wheelirom one leg tothe other-leg at theendl'of each'travel of thecarriage. 8. Ina machine'ofj'the class set forth, a track--' way-structure, a carriageadjaptedto run back' andjforthjon saidtrackway structure, a fan 3 casing mounted on saidjca'r riage, a 'fan in said casing, {mechanism I for driving the fan; an endle'sschain having two parallel legs supported on wayestructurejhaving side j walls provided with openingsfa carriage adapted to back and f orthfon said trackwayestructure, a fan-casing.

mounted onsaid carriage, a fan in said casing, mechanism for driving the fan an endless chain having two parallel legs supported onsaid track way structure f for" driving said fan-driving mechanism and for running a said carriage back and forth" on trackway structure, devices for driving said chain,'.and means engaging the'chain" fonactuating the fan driv'ing. mechanism; said means embodying a rockable barswivelly'rnounted 'on' th'e'lower' end of thefan driving shaft, a

pair -ofgears oneof-which is mpunteaon said rockable bar and the other of which is mounted,

on the. f an driving shaft... a1 sprocketwheel mounted on the shaft of;the first gear, a guide-.

wheel mounted on saidrockable bar and running,

along the trackwaystructure and adapted to enterjsaid openings, and a rod pivotally connected to the chain and"hav'ing telescopic coning a track mounted" abovethegmachine, a disk fan rotatable about a s ubs tantially.vertical axis and arranged to driveair downwardly, said fan being mounted above th'e trackfor travel back" and forth along said track, a box surrounding the fan and having a pluralitybfseparated ape'r turefs' inQthe-b ttOm' thereof through' which a plurality of air blasts from said fan are directed I past each side of the track and onto the machine;-

6. Apparatus for cleaning machines compris ing a track mountedabove the machines, a disk fan rotatable about a; substantially vertical axis and arranged to driveair downwardly and mounted above said track for travel along the track, a

box surrounding the fan and having abottom ing a track mounted above the machines, a disk fan rotatable about a substantially vertical axis provided with two apertures on opposed sides thereof and conduits covering said apertures and being inclined at their lower open end toward the machines for directing blasts of air past each side of the track and inwardly and downwardly onto the machines.

7. Apparatus for cleaning machines comprisand arranged to drive air downwardly, and mounted above said track" for travel along said track, a casing surrounding said fan and having outwardly and downwardly and inwardly directed ducts connected to the bottom of the casing for directing separated'blasts of air from said fan downwardly past each side of the track and inwardly toward the machines.

8; Apparatus for cleaning machines comprising a track mounted above the machine, a disk fan rotatable about a substantially vertical axis and, arranged to drive air downwardly, means for driving the fan, means for mounting said fan above said track for travel on said track, a casing surrounding the tan and having its upper end open for ingress of air and having two separated ducts communicating with the bottom of said casing, said ducts being directed downwardly and inwardly toward each other for directing blasts of air'ircm thelower open ends of said ducts downwardly past each side of the track and intubular standard extending, up into the casing,

said casing having openings in its bottom and depending air conduits connected therewith, :a

shaft journalled in said standard, a disk fan carried by said shaft at a point above saidstani dardand adapted to drive the air directly downwardly through the aforesaid openings and their respective connecting conduits, and means for driving said fan.

1O. Means for removing lint and the like from a machine which comprises a trackway disposed above the machine, a traveler mounted for travel on said trackway, said traveler having blast producing and diverting means disposed above the trackway and extending laterally beyond the trackway for producing and directing blasts of air laterally of the trackway and downwardly onto said machine.

11. Means for removing lint and the like from a machine which comprises a trackway disposed above the machine, a traveler mounted for travel on said trackway, said traveler having blast producing and directing means disposed above the trackway, the directing means being disposed outside a vertical plane passing through the outer edge of the trackway for directing blasts of air downwardly onto the machine.

12. Means for removing lint and the like from machinery which comprises a trackway extending above the machinery, a traveler mounted for travel on said trackwayhaving blast-producing means, blast-diverting means disposed above the trackway for producing and directing blasts of air past the side of the trackway and on to the machinery.

13. Means for removing lint and the like from machinery which comprises a trackway located at a higher level than the top of the machinery, a traveler mounted to travel above and on said trackway, said traveler having blast-producing means associatedwith said blast-producing means and extending laterally beyond the trackway and thence downwardly for directing blasts of air from the blast-producing means downwardly past the side of the trackway and on to the machinery.

15. Means for removing lint and the like from machinery which comprises a trackway located at a higher level than the top of the machinery, and extending longitudinally thereof, a traveler mounted for travel on said trackway, said traveler having blast-producing means disposed above said trackway, blast-directing means associated with said blast-producing means to extend laterally in opposite directions beyond said trackway and to direct blasts of air from said blast-producing means downwardly past the sides of said trackway and on to the machinery.

CULLEN L. LYT'I'ON. WILLIAM A. HUFFSTICKLER. MINOR R. ADAMS. 

